Updated 6-5-2005

Mid Bed Repair

Fig. 1 What I started with	Fig. 2 Fixing the holes	Fig. 3 More holes to fix	Fig. 4 Mid Bed De-Rusting
Fig. 5 De-Rusted ready to continue repair	Fig. 6 Adding Seat Belt and Heater Mounts	Fig. 7 Measuring for front patch panel	Fig. 8 Welding on Front patch panel

I know a lot of folks would have just thrown this section away and bought a new one. Believe me, several times I started to do just that! However with money being tight and my welding/metal fabrication skills needing improving I decided to continue repairing it.

Fig. 1 shows what I started with, a rusty, greasy thin in sections piece of 33 year old sheet metal. I welded in some very ugly patch panels and even tried my hand at metal forming. See Fig. 2-3. Since this will all be covered with LineX or something it did not have to be pretty, just structurally sound. Next I de-rusted the whole thing (Fig. 4) so I could tell if I wanted to continue or not. It was more solid than I thought so I continued the repairs. In Fig. 6 I added something my truck never had; Rear Heater mounting plates and extra floor anchors for the future front shoulder and lap seat belts. Figs. 7-8 show the front patch panel job. I also welded up all the other rust holes in the sheet metal including the ones I drilled to remove the old center channel spot welds. I had my new channel mounting lip made 1.5" 'wider' than the stock one so it would be repositioned on thicker metal. The original one is a bit thin in that area. Well that wraps up the mid bed repair. Check here for some pics of welding it in place.

Next up: Floor Pan Repair

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**Updated 6-5-2005 **

Mid Bed Repair

Next up: Floor Pan Repair

Updated 6-5-2005